Iceland Seafood to invest in UK operation

Iceland Seafood has revealed plans to merge its UK operation and invest in a “significant” processing and coldstore capacity in Grimsby.

It said it plans to merge Iceland Seafood Barraclough and Havelok into one legal entity called Iceland Seafood UK. It has acquired a 33% minority share in Havelok for £3m in order to gain 100% ownership of the company.

The seafood giant has secured the purchase of the previous Five Star Fish site on Great Grimsby Business Park, which it will refurbish at a total investment of between £5m to £6m.

It will transfer both the existing Havelok and Iceland Seafood Barraclough operations to the site by early 2021. The site includes a coldstore capacity of about 2,000 metric tons of products, and three processing areas totalling about 10,000m2​. Product ranges will include coated products, both chilled and frozen, natural products, both chilled and frozen, and various shellfish products for the UK retail and foodservice market.

The business will be led by two existing UK managing directors: Peter Hawkins and Danny Burton. Hawkins will head up the overall operation, while Burton will oversee the refurbishment of the site and operational teams.

Bjarni Ármannsson, Iceland Seafood’s chief executive officer, said: “We have strong businesses and management teams in the UK and with the continued support of our existing customers, our people and our suppliers are confident that we can become stronger as a result of the merger of the two businesses on a new large, well-invested site. We look forward to grow in both our existing retail and foodservice markets and within this increasing the opportunities for Icelandic products in the UK market.”​

The purchase of Havelock will see half the £3m paid with cash, and half with shares in Iceland Seafood.

Iceland Seafood International is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in Iceland, with annual revenue of €450m. It has seven factories and 12 businesses across eight countries.